badger Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a native or resident of Wisconsin
    Wisconsinite.
  2. noun sturdy carnivorous burrowing mammal with strong claws; widely distributed in the northern hemisphere
  3. verb annoy persistently
    beleaguer; pester; bug; tease.
    • The children teased the boy because of his stammer
  4. verb persuade through constant efforts

WordNet

Badg"er noun
Etymology
Of uncertain origin; perh. fr. an old verb badge to lay up provisions to sell again.
Definitions
  1. An itinerant licensed dealer in commodities used for food; a hawker; a huckster; -- formerly applied especially to one who bought grain in one place and sold it in another. Now dialectic, Eng.
Badg"er noun
Etymology
OE. bageard, prob. fr. badge + -ard, in reference to the white mark on its forehead. See Badge,n.
Definitions
  1. A carnivorous quadruped of the genus Meles or of an allied genus. It is a burrowing animal, with short, thick legs, and long claws on the fore feet. One species (M. vulgaris), called also brock, inhabits the north of Europe and Asia; another species (Taxidea Americana or Labradorica) inhabits the northern parts of North America. See Teledu.
  2. A brush made of badgers' hair, used by artists.
Badg"er transitive verb
Etymology
For sense 1, see 2d Badger; for 2, see 1st Badger.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Badgered ();present participle & verbal noun Badgering
Definitions
  1. To tease or annoy, as a badger when baited; to worry or irritate persistently.
  2. To beat down; to cheapen; to barter; to bargain.

Webster 1913